Knuckles: Rise of Black Chaos
by Phoenix Ride
Summary: For all his life Knuckles has been known as the sole survivor of his kind, but when Sonic and Co. give him a chance to find out what happened to his race a dark force is unleashed that threatens to destroy Sonic's world. What's going to happen? Find out.
1. Chapter 1: A Birthday Wish

**Knuckles: Rise of Black Chaos**

**By: Phoenix Ride**

**Ch.1: A Birthday Wish**

It was a stormy night on Angel Island, the black clouds shook with angry thunder as the lightning illuminated the sky. From inside the cabin on Angel Island the Chaotix and Knuckles were kept safe from the pelting rain.

Before going to sleep in bed Knuckles made sure the Master Emerald was secure before the storm hit. The Chaotix were ordered to keep an eye out just in case the chaos supports Knuckles placed ever broke. Knuckles doubted that they would, but it couldn't to hurt to keep an eye on things, especailly during this storm.

Somehow, despite the tremendous noise, Knuckles found the strentgh to sleep. He was used to twenty-four hour shifts around the emerald, but when the Chaotix lost their house to an Eggman attack last summer the echidna was reluctantly forced to take the unwanted house guests due to Sonic's constant pleading for him to get the Chaotix out of his house. So like it or not Knuckles took them in.

Surprisingly the four became sort of a team and earned each other's trust. Which was a good thing in Knuckles case, because now he could take a little brake once in awhile from watching the Master Emerald.

But something about the air this stormy night had triggered something dark to enter Knuckles mind as he slept, making the echidna twist and turn uncomfortably in his bed.

**-------------------------------------------------**

**Knuckles Nightmare**

**-------------------------------------------------**

_" Knuckles found himself awake in what seemed to be like an ancient city that stood aboard a floating island, his Floating Island. Knuckles would recgonize it anywhere, after all he lived on it long enough to recgonize the landscape, but there wasn't a city here before."_

_" Suddenly all the doors that were connected to the buildings of the city opened and to Knuckles surprise he witnessed members of his own kind emerge and walk down the streets, carrying on with their business as if everything was normal."_

_" Young echidnas played tag in the streets as the elder echidnas ran their daily errands. One of elder echindas Knuckles quickly recgonized as his father, Locke."_

" Knuckles!" the dream Locke said " where are you?"

" Here father!" shouted a young voice from above.

_" Knuckles turned around in surprise to see a younger version of himself standing on top of a stone statue. The dream Locke imediatelly said for the young Knuckles to come down, which he did, after a few minutes of rebellion."_

_" Knuckles laughed at the sight of his younger version teasing his long lost father, but then suddenly everyone in the whole city got quite as a dark cloud suddenly drifted over Angel Island."_

_" The dream skipped and the vision switched to the burning ruins of the ancient city. No other echidnas could be seen for miles, until Locke suddenly appeared out of nowhere weilding a blank chaos emerald."_

_" Only then did Knuckles see that eerie, shadowy firgure floated in the sky. But before Knuckles could see what happened next, a loud bolt of lightning shook him awake from his nightmare,"_

**---------------------------------------------**

Downstairs, the Chaotix cringed as they heard that same loud crack.

"This has got to be one of the worst storms in history," said Vector, covering up the windows with boards.

" No kidding" said Charmy, cleaning up the hot chocolate he had just split " not even I would try flying out in this weather,"

" As bad as the storm may be" said Espio " we do have other concerns,"

"Yeah" said Vector " like what?"

" Knuckles birthday," said Espio.

" Oh, right" said Vector dejectedly as he and Charmy joined Espio at the table " but what can we get him? Knuckles isn't really to thrilled about birthdays,"

"Maybe it's because he's never had a party," said Charmy.

" Or was just to stubborn to ask for one," grumbled Vector.

" How could he ask for one all these years if he's never had anyone to celebrate with" said Espio, glaring at Vector and Charmy " he's the last of his race. There are no more echidnas for him to hang with. Can't you imagine how that devestated him?"

" Yeah, I can " said Vector " he's almost similar to Shadow, and that hedgehog seems to understand Knuckles situation better than any of us ever could,"

"That's it!" said Charmy snapping his fingers " I know the perfect gift to get for Knuckles,"

Buzzing with excitement Charmy quickly whispered his idea to the others, and to their own surprise Espio and Vector grinned.

**-----------------------------------------------------**

Tomorrow morning, the fury of last night's storm had passed, which gave the Chaotix the oppurnity to seek off the island while Knuckles wasn't looking because the echidna would be busy checking for any damage done last night. So the Chaotix took a plane and soared down to Sonics house where everyone was gathered to make preperations for Knuckles surprise birthday party.

"Vector, Charmy, Espio" called Sonic as the Chaotix came in " did you find out what Rad Red wants for his birthday?"

" Like it or not" said Espio " Charmy came up with an amazing idea,"

"Him?" said Sonic, pointing to Charmy unbelievingly.

" Gather everyone in the living room and we'll explian," said Vector.

Minutes Sonic had everyone in the living to hear Charmy's plan and like it or not they all agreed that it was a good one.

" A wishing crystal huh?" said Sonic " well I always wondered what a guy like Knuckles would wish for,"

" But doesn't a birthday cake usually give you a wish?" said Amy.

" Yeah" said Tails " but that wish only has a fifty percent chance of coming true, on a wishing crystal your wishes come true all the time,"

" But where can we possibly find one in time for Knuckles birthday tomorrow?" said Rouge.

" No problem" said Sonic " I know just where to find one. Be back in a flash,"

With that Sonic dashed out of the room only to return minutes later with a glowing white crystal in his hand. Rouge's eyes instantly lit up with greed at the sparkingly beauty of the gem, Sonic quickly hid it away from her sight.

" Oh no you don't" said Sonic " each crystal only grants a person one wish, and this is Knuckles present remember, not yours,"

" Oh well" said Rouge, turning her eyes away from Sonic " it wasn't that beautiful anyway,"

"Tomorrow's going be Knuckles best birthday ever," said Tails.

" For sure," said Shadow.

**-------------------------------------------------------**

The next day Knuckles slept in a bit late do to the exhausting day he had yesterday, repairing all the damage the storm had done without the Chaotix's help. When the Chaotix arrived back on Angel Island last night Knuckles interriogated them long and good, but the excuses they gave were more than suspicous.

Surprise awaited him when he walked down to the dining room to see breakfast all fixed and prepared. Espio was the only one left eating anything, Vector and Charmy were busy fighting over the remote control to the T.V.

"Who cooked it this time?" said Knuckles, as he sat down reaching for a biscuit.

" I did!" yelled Vector, falling flat on the floor after a failed attempt to get the remote away from Charmy.

" You might want to stick with milk," said Espio to Knuckles.

" I heard that!" yelled Vector " you think I can't cook Espio? Last time you made breakfast the scrambled eggs still had eggshells in it!"

"Well it's nothing worst compared to your toast" said Espio, picking up a piece as an example " it's so hard even a knife can't cut through it,"

"Heh ha!" said Charmy changing the station on the T.V. " oh yeah!"

" Hey!" said Vector, turning his attention back at Charmy " give me that remote!"

Knuckles shook his head and tried to conceal his laughter. This mid morning maddness happened nearly everyday, and there was never a dull moment.

" Alright you guys" said Knuckles loud enough to be heard " stop fighting, how bout you say we all go swimming today?"

"Swimming?" said Charmy " yahoo!"

"I'm in," said Espio.

" Me too!" said Vector.

Minutes later the Chaotix and Knuckles were heading to most marvelous place on Angel Island, the Crystal Falls. It was beautiful sight where a natural blue waterfall fell from a wall of white stone, creating a puddle big enough to swim in. The field around that lake was colored with many kinds of flowers, making the Crystal Falls have sort of a mystic appeal.

" Surprise!" shouted voices as Knuckles and the Chaotix reached Crystal Falls.

Knuckles was surprised, 'cause all his friends were already at the Crystal Falls with birthday cake, presents and more.

" Happy Birthday Knuckles!" yelled the Chaotix along with Sonic and the others.

Before Knuckles knew it he was being dragged into the fun like everyone else. Although not used to parties Shadow began enjoying Knuckles birthday celebration as well, including trouching the echidna in an arm wrestiling contest, although Knuckles swore that he'd win next time.

Rouge found pleasure in it as well, when time came for Spin the Bottle her spin landed on Knuckles and the echidna blushed when she kissed him. When it was Amy's turn however Sonic had to be most unhappy hedgehog in the world as her spin landed on him and he had to run away from being kissed.

Finally the cake was brought out with the wishing crystal placed in the center. Knuckles was imediately surprised.

" This is ultimate birthday present Knuckles" said Sonic " from all of us. Go on and make a wish,"

_" I wish I knew the truth on what happened to my kind,"_ thought Knuckles and blew out the wishing crystal.

For a second nothing seemed to have happened, then suddenly the sky turned red, and the entire Angel Island shook.


	2. Chapter 2: Secrets Unlocked

**Ch.2: Secrets Unlocked**

"Knuckles, what did you wish for?" said Sonic, trying to keep his balance on the shaking ground.

" I only wished to know what happened to my kind," said Knuckles, gripping the ground.

" Is the island falling?" asked Shadow grabbing onto a tree.

" It shouldn't be," said Knuckles.

Suddenly all the shaking stopped and everyone was able to catch a breather after the unexpected earthquake. Sonic imediately ran to the edge of the island to make sure it was still floating in the air, and returned seconds later declaring to the others that Angel Island was still airborne. Espio's concern however was locked on the sky.

"Why did the sky turn red all the sudden?" he asked.

" Must have happened when Knuckles made his wish," said Shadow.

" But he only wished to know what happened to the other echidnas" said Amy " so why did all of this happen?"

As everyone thought about it Knuckles perphial vision caught sight of a glow behind the Crystal Falls and dragged everyone's attention to it.

" There's something back there," said Knuckles.

"Then let's check it out," said Sonic.

Together all of them started to walk through a tunnel behind Crystal Falls that was revealed during the earthquake. Knuckles was in the lead followed by Rouge, Sonic, Amy, Shadow, Tails, Cream and Cheese, and the Chaotix.

"Ow!" said Sonic when he and gang were only a few feet into the tunnel.

" Are you alright?" said Amy.

"Yeah" said Sonic getting up " I think I tripped on a stone or something. It's hard to see in here,"

"There's a light up ahead" said Knuckles " hang on,"

Soon Sonic and the gang stepped into a large luminous cavern that held the perfectly perserved ruins of an ancient city. 'Wow' was the only word you could use to describe it.

"Whoa" said Sonic in awe to Knuckles " I can't believe you never metioned to us about a whole city being on your island,"

" I didn't know it was here," said Knuckles.

" It seems like this place hasn't been disturbed in thousands of years" said Tails " and yet everything is still standing, even if a bit dusty,"

" Hey" said Shadow pointing over to the center of the city were a huge shrine was " that glow is coming from that shrine,"

"What are we waiting for?" said Vector " let's find out what it is,"

But as the group wandered through the city towards the shrine a bad feeling dug into Knuckles heart causing him to give the whole city a second glance. It was all like one big illussion for he had seen this exact same city from his nightmares, but why were no other echidnas there. Something terrible must have happened long ago and as the gang got closer to the shrine Knuckles wasn't sure if he was ready to find out the truth.

"So who wants to climb to the top first?" asked Rouge.

" Is the lady to scared to climb?" asked Shadow.

" I'll go," said Knuckles and started climbing up the shrine stairs.

Not wanting Knuckles to go alone Sonic followed his pal up there, but as the two got closer to the top the ground started to shake once again forcing Sonic and Knuckles to grip onto the stairs while everyone made their way to safer ground.

A black light suddenly shot up from the middle of the alter illuminating the entire area with it's dark light. After a sudden flash the floating oject was revealed to be a chaos emerald. But something was different about this one, 'cause unlike the other seven it glowed pure black.

A silver light broke free from the dark emerald and soon took on a shape of his own. Everyone's eyes nearly widened at the similairity, for the strange silver creature looked a lot like Super Sonic except his spines were longer and his eyes glowed green.

"Finally" he said holding up the black chaos emerald " after a thousand years of imprisionment I am finally free to take my revenge of those foolish echdinas,"

"Who is this guy?" said Amy.

The strange silver being looked around, but when he spotted no other echdina except Knuckles he demanded to know what happened to the others.

"They dissappeared a long time ago" said Knuckles standing up to the silver being bravely " I'm the last of my kind,"

"Very well then young Guardian" said the silver hedgehog " I will come back to kill you at your weakest point. And let it be immortalized in stone that Nazo, the Great Destroyer, put an end to echidna race once and for all,"

With that said the being called Nazo disappeared.


	3. Chapter 3: Chaos Equals Chaotix

**Ch.3: Chaos Equals Chaotix**

After Nazo dissappeared everyone in the room was to stunned to speak, until Amy spoke for all of them.

"Who was that guy?"

"And what's his beef with the echidnas?" said Vector.

"Look over here!" said Rouge directing everyone's attention to the side of the shrine.

"These pictoglyphs seem to tell the story of Nazo" said Shadow looking over Rouge's discovery " there's some words too, but I can't read them,"

"That's because they're written in ancient echidna tounge," said Knuckles jumping down from the shrine.

"Can you translate it?" said Tails as Sonic jumped down.

" I can try," said Knuckles and started to read the ancient words.

**-------------------------------------------------------------------**

_" In the begining there was a city and the city was named Echidnanopolis. Here in this peaceful city the echidna race lived freely, then everything changed when a gaint green gem, know to those now as the Master Emerald, fell from the sky,"_

_"Everyone could tell imediatelly that the gem radiated nearly unlimited power. But as one brave soul stepped toward the gem a green shot of energy struck him down and the mystics of Echidnanopolis sealed the excess power of the Master Emerald into seven smaller gems, later to be called Chaos Emeralds,"_

_"The Coming of the Master Emerald and Birth of the Chaos Emeralds were just the begining. Later on the echidnas thrived under the emeralds power and developed quickly in the departments of magic and technology making it advance more quickly than other cities,"_

_"Despite all their accomplishments the echidna race still bore little love for war so when the other nations started to fight each other the echidnas used the power of the Master Emerald to lift the entire city into the air forming what would later be called Floating Island,"_

_"But as the nations below continued to fight the echidnas feared that the war they left behind would come back to find them, and so began the start of a very foolish decision to have a warrior born of Chaos, Nazo,"_

_"The current Guardian of the Master Emerald, Locke, did not approve of the Brotherhood's plan, but still only he had the power to pull it off. Despite his utter reluctance Locke called upon the power of the Master Emerald and a silver being emerged that called itself Nazo,"_

_"Locke told Nazo why he had been summoned, the silver being accepted his role at first, but when no war came to the island his own lust for power grew. One day, terror struck, as Nazo heartlessly destroyed Echidnanopolis and all it's citizens. But thanks to efforts of Locke he was sealed away,"_

_"Yet Locke's victory came at a great cost and now all hope rests on the Last Guardian, the Last Guardian, born from Chaos but free to live his life as flesh and blood. He shall bring a new world to us, but until that day comes we'll just have to wait,"_

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

"Wow" said Vector when Knuckles finished " that's quite a history lesson,"

"It helps me unsterstand most of mysteries that I have floating through my mind" said Knuckles " but what I can't understand is the way the story was written. It came from a first person point of view,"

"Oh course" said Espio " so whoever wrote that history on the shrine must have been alive after your father sealed Nazo away,"

"And my father dissapeared when I was eight" said Knuckles " he said he had somewhere else to go, after that he never returned,"

"Well wherever the rest of your race is" said Shadow " that's not our concern right now. Your wish has brought Nazo back to life and now your life is in danger as well as ours,"

"Hey we can take care of him!" said Charmy.

"You?" said Amy.

"You bet we can Charmy!" said Vector " let Nazo try his best shot, there's no way that's he's going to destroy Knuckles,"

**---------------------------------------------------------------**

Later that evening, Knuckles stood guard over the Master Emerald while the Chaotix watched him from three different view points on the left side of the alter, in the shadows of the trees.

"Oh man" Vector yawned as it was nearing midnight " this late night survelliance is making me tired. Hey Charmy, Espio, how 'bout you take a break to find some food so we can keep ourselves awake?"

"No problem Vector" said Charmy " we're on it,"

Fifthteen minutes later Espio and Charmy were walking back to Vector from three miles away with a load a fruit in their hands, but stopped cold when they heard a strange sound. After a few seconds of listening carefully both Espio and Charmy realized they recgonized that sound, dropping their fruit the imediatelly ran off to find the source.

What waited for them was a shock. For the person making that sound was no other than Vector, hanging from a tree in a glowing blue net and gag wrapped around his mouth.

"Vector, what happened?" said Charmy flying forward.

"Charmy, lookout!" yelled Espio.

But the warning came to late as Charmy tripped the trip wire and he and Espio both ended up in a glowing blue net just like Vector.

"We're trapped!" said Charmy.

"Nazo must have set these" said Espio " and with us trapped here..."

"There's no one to protect Knuckles," said Charmy finishing Espio's grim thought.


	4. Chapter 4: Here Comes The Calvary

**Ch.4: Here Comes The Calvary**

The moon and stars gave a strange glow that night, for the reddness of the day seemed to turn them red as well. From his seat on top of the Master Emerald's alter Knuckles began to wonder why Sonic and the others had taken the risk of getting a wishing crystal for his birthday.

But then he realized that he hadn't regreted the gift. In fact he enjoyed it. If he wished upon that instead of a candle the real fate of his kind would be revealed no matter what.

Yet, was it worth it? A terrible evil had been awakened in a simple quest for knowledge that now threatened Knuckles and his friends very lives.

Suddenly the air grew still and everything on Angel Island seemed to shiver. Knuckles didn't need the mind of pyshic to figure out that something was coming straight at him and quickly jumped out of the way as a the silver form of Nazo sped by.

"I'm impressed by your speed Guardian" said Nazo as Knuckles came in flinging punches at him which he blocked " but not by your skill,"

Flinging Knuckles off the alter Nazo threw a volley of blue flaming Chaos Spears in the Guardian's direction. After years of battle experince with Sonic however Knuckles was able to quickly recover from his fall and dodge the Chaos Spears that were coming his way.

Nazo was getting infuriated the more and more he missed his target and sped towards Knuckles his arm charged for a jab. To Nazo's surprise Knuckles was able to block the attack, the guardian pushed Nazo away and flames covered his fists.

"This echidna is different than the others I destroyed" thought Nazo as Knuckles came punching at Nazo fists aflame " chaos flows through his veins. but none of the less he shall fall like the rest of his kind,"

With that thought in mind Nazo flew into the airand unleashed his Ultimate Chaos attack with drove Knuckles flat on his back. Seizing his oppurnity to end the guardians life once and for all Nazo sped in to deliver the final blow.

But before the silver hedgehog could kill Knuckles an unexpected force pushed him away from the guardian and hurling into the forest. Knuckles felt a hand grab his and soon the echidna was back standing on two feet.

"Shadow?" Knuckles said surprised when he realized who had came to his aid " what are you doing here?"

"None of the others believed that the Chaotix would be enough to protect you" said Shadow " we drew straws and I lost, so I'm your bodyguard tonight,"

"I don't need your help," said Knuckles.

" Sure" said Shadow sarcastically "and you were handling Nazo just fine,"

Before Knuckles could come up with another arguement Nazo suddenly burst back through the trees and headed straight towards the Master Emerald's alter.

"This fight is far from done Guardian" said Nazo " but I'll just take a few suvivors to remember you by,"

With that Nazo grabbed all seven of the Chaos Emeralds Knuckles had placed on the alter, but before he got a chance to snatch the Master Emerald as well Knuckles ran up the alter and smashed the emerald with his fist, scattering it's pieces everywhere.

Dissappionted but not empty handed Nazo dissappeared into the night leaving Shadow and Knuckles wondering what to do next.

**------------------------------------**

After Nazo's dissappearence Knuckles and Shadow discovered the Chaotix trapped in the nets that Nazo had made and freed them. A few hours later the sun began to rise changing the color of the sky from black to red.

"What do we now?" said Vector.

"Now" said Knuckles " I have to find the missing pieces of the Master Emerald and restore it as quickly as I can. It may be the only way I can defeat Nazo,"

"I'll help" said Shadow " if you'll loan me some radar,"

"What about us?" said Charmy.

"You're going down to tell Sonic and the others what happened here last night" said Knuckles " and tell them to be aware of Nazo, he has more power than we thought,"

With that said the group split to carry on their seperate jobs while in the ancient city Nazo was chanting a spell over the seven Chaos Emeralds and soon each emerald was encased within the body of a stone golem.

"Soliders of Chaos" said Nazo " do your master's bidding. Seek out and destroy the Guardian. And if anyone dares to get in your way, crush them!"

And with that command the Chaos Soliders flew off Angel Island and went in search of their former guardian.


	5. Chapter 5: Pure Chaos

**Ch.5: Pure Chaos**

As Knuckles and shadow went to look for the missing pieces of the Master Emerald the Chaotix journeyed back to the mainland where they informed Sonic and the others as to what happened on Angel Island last night.

"Well" said Rouge, when the Chaotix finished their tale " it's a good thing we sent Shadow there,"

"Hey" said Vector " we could have protected Knuckles without his help!"

" Before or after you escaped from Nazo's nets?" said Rouge.

Vector was about to pulverize Rouge when Sonic stepped in to prevent the arguement from getting out of hand.

"Alright, that's enough!" said Sonic, turning his attention to the Chaotix " You say Shadow and Knuckles are off searching for the pieces of the Master Emerald right? What about the Chaos Emeralds?"

"Nazo has them" said Espio " and who knows they'll be?"

"Sonic!" yelled Amy dashing out the T.V. room of Sonic's house " there's something you should see on the television!"

In seconds eeryone was gathered in the T.V. room to see the reason for Amy's sudden cry, what they saw astounded them. Three stone golem's with Chaos Emerald's emblazed on their chests were stomping through the city trashing everything and everyone that got in their way.

"Well" said Tails " I guess now we now what happened to the Chaos Emeralds Nazo took,"

"We have to stop those things," said Sonic.

"Then what are we waiting for?" said Vector, and with that the team went to put a stop to the Chaos Soliders.

Minutes later Sonic and the others arrived downtown where the Chaos soliders were reeking havoc on the streets. the Chaos Emeralds on their chests made them able to shoot lasers of chaos energy that could destroy a whole building, while their stone forms nearly made them impossible to destroy.

"This isn't going to be easy," said Sonic.

"Who wants it easy?" said Rouge charging in, followed by the others.

The three Chaos Soliders saw the forces heading their way and immediately took action, focusing the energy of their Chaos Beams on Sonic and his pals. However Sonic's gang had experince dealing with tough situations before, this would be no different.

Sonic super spinned into one of the stone golems with the purple Chaos Emerald, while Amy and Rouge took a swing to the second with the green Chaos Emerald, and the Chaotix and Tails took the third with the blue Chaos Emerald.

However due the energy the golems gained from their power source anyone who dared to resist their might was blasted away.

"We have to remove the source of their power" said Tails " but these guys sheels are made of rock! If Knuckles were here he could punch through them, but we can't!"

"Hey" said Sonic " we don't have to rely on Knuckles to smash everything, right Vector?"

"Right!" said Vector and charged at the nearest Chaos Solider, grabbing it by the arm and smashing into a wall. Before the fallen enemey had a chance to recover Vector snatched the Chaos Emerald from the golem's chest.

Sonic and Tails went to work on the second golem and through their combined powers it wasn't long before the second chaos emerald was recovered as well.

"The last one's mine," said Amy running at the Blue Chaos Solider with her Piko Piko Hammer out and ready to go.

However, this time, the Chaos Solider was prepared and trapped Amy in his chaos grip before her hammer could even touch her. Rouge instantly raced to Amy's rescue but ended up being caught in the light beam as well, cursing herself at how easily she had been captured.

" No way you're getting away with them," said Sonic, rushing towards Rouge's and Amy's rescue.

But before the blue hedgehog could ever reach them the Chaos Solider used the power of Chaos Control and transported him and his prisoners to an unknown location.

"This is not good," said Espio.

"What was your first clue?" said Vector to Espio, then glanced at Sonic " well how are we going to get them back?"

"We'll find a way" said Sonic " but I'd like to know more about this Nazo guy than what we know so far. If he turn the Chaos Emeralds into this, what else can he do? When Knuckles and Shadow return we search for answers,"


	6. Chapter 6: Search For Chaos

**Ch.6: Search For Chaos**

" This one foggy mountian region" said Shadow, trying to brush some of the mist away " are you sure the Master Emerald pieces are somewhere around here?"

"I'm sure" said Knuckles " these mountians may not be the friendliest place, but I'd know the Master emerald's energy anywhere. You sure can work that radar?"

"What do I look like?" said Shadow "an amueter? I'll find you six pieces of that emerald before you can even find one,"

"It's a race then" said Knuckles " let's go!"

With that Shadow sprinted toawrds the left side of the mountains while Knuckles flew to the right. Given the contest the two had just set up for each other it was already clear on who had the best advantage.

Shadow was fast, but he couldn't fly, climb, dig, or swim like Knuckles could, so he mostly had to find emerald pieces in secret passageways or smash enmies to get the treasure he wanted. By the end it was clear that when it comes to treasure hunting Knuckles is the fastest.

" Well" said Knuckles when Shadow came in behind him a few minutes later " I guess you're not as fast as you thought,"

"Next time," said Shadow.

A sudden tremor in the ground caused both Knuckles and Shadow to turn and look to the North. On a mountian not far away stood two Chaos Soldiers possessing the green and grey Chaos Emerald.

"Where'd those two come from?" said Shadow.

" I don't know" said Knuckles " they have the Chaos Emeralds and that's all the information I need to take them down,"

With that said both Knuckles and Shadow traveled to the second mountian to confront the Chaos Soldiers. Just as the two got ready to take them on the chaos Soldiers fused together to create a Chaos Serpent, with emeralds for eyes and a stone body.

"Alright" said Shadow " for a moment I thought this fight would be boring,"

The Chaos Serpent struck first using the speed boost it gained from the Chaos Emeralds to charge towards Shadow and Knuckles, it's jaws opened wide. But the hedgehog and echidna proved to be faster and made it out of the way just in time.

"Chaos Spear!" shouted Shadow, throwing his yellow energy arrows at the stone snake.

But the yellow darts only managed to make a few dents in the snakes stone skin. Enraged the Chaos Serpent slapped it's tail to the ground and charged towards Shadow jaws open wide.

"Shadow Look Out!" said Knuckles, jumping and pushing shadow out of the way. The result being Knuckles being eaten by the Chaos Serpent.

"Knuckles!" said Shadow when he landed back on the ground a few feet away from the serpent.

Before the black hedgehog could make a counterattack to get Knuckles out the grey and green Chaos Emeralds attached to the serpent began to glow brighter and brighter. Soon the whole stone snake shattered, letting a cloud of dust and debris out in the air.

When the dust cleared Shadow was amazed to see Knuckles standing among what remained of the Chaos Serpent with both emeralds in hand and a shining green arua around him. the green aura around Knuckles wore off and when the echdina opened his eyes he was surprised by the destruction he had done. Shadow resisted the urge to ask what just happened and stated instead...

"Come on, let's go restore that Master Emerald,"

Moments later Shadow and Knuckles arrived back on Angel Island with all the Master Emerald pieces and Chaos Emeralds in tact. Knuckles used his guardian powers to restore the Master Emerald and once again Angel Island started floating in the sky.

"Glad that's over with" said Knuckles, then looked to Shadow " we'll stop by my cabin for something to drink, then we'll go see how Sonic and the others are doing alright?"

Shadow didn't refuse and followed the echidna at a distanced pace, for his thoughts were still reliving that moment when the Chaos Serpent exploded. Knuckles was the only one who could have done it, no one else was there. And as much as Shadow hated to admit it his attacks didn't do any good.

"Does this have have something to do with the green aura I saw glow around him?" thought Shadow as he and Knuckles arrived at the cabin " is he more powerful than I ever thought he could be?"

Knuckles went to work on preparing a quick lunch while Shadow looked around the cabin, eventually stepping into Knuckles own personal library. The place was nearly crowded with books, although there was a clean area around a desk that stood near the center.

Curious Shadow opened the drawers to the desk one by one, finding mainly uninteresting things like paper and pens, but one drawer stood out above the rest when he found a book labeled 'Dairy' hidden underneath it.

"Find my study?" came a sudden voice from the study's entrance way.

Shadow turned around to see Knuckles standing in the doorway with drinks in hand and staring right at him.

"How could he sneak up on me so silently?" Shadow thought " how long has he been there?"

"I think I've found something" said Shadow, ignoring Knuckles questions " it's looks like a dairy, is it yours?"

"No" said Knuckles, setting the glasses down and taking the book from Shadow " it's my father's,"


	7. Chapter 7: Locke's Diary

**Ch.7: Locke's Diary**

_" A great responsibility has been endowed upon my people, and with it a great burden. So many obastacles stood in our way to gain our freedom from the mainland. But all our efforts now must focus on the safety of the Master Emerald and Chaos Emeralds. I have been chosen to take on that responsibility, but to what cost? Who knows if I done the right thing?" ­**- Locke's Diary page 1.**_

"This was your father's?" said Shadow, pointing to the book " but then how do you have it when the whole echidna race is gone? Do really know if it was written by him?"

" I know" said Knuckles " becauses it mentions my name. Hard to believe I know, but I found this book when I was exploring the border of the Forbidden Zone. My dad must have dropped it when he disappeared,"

"What else does it say?" asked Shadow.

"Everything and nothing," said Knuckles, taking a deep breath he started to read another passage.

_" The Ancient Walkers have appeared to me warning of great evil that would soon arise, and asked me to do something extreme to my unborn son. I tried to deny what they said at first, but when my own efforts failed I had to go on with their plan. Now that Knuckles is grown it's obivous how different he is from the others of his kind. His skills supply him with everything he needs to be the Perfect Guardian. It's to bad I won't be here to help him grow,"**-Locke's Diary page 2.**_

_" The Brotherhood has come up with the most foolish sugguestion I ever heard of since we've split up from the mainland, to create a warrior born from Chaos. I tried to back out of this foolish venture but ended up conceding to their will, and that my mistake. Nazo has destroyed everything. I barely managed to capture him before things got out of control. All residents have fled, now only I and my son remain,"_

_" But it was not how it was meant to be. So with great regret I left Knuckles so that he could carry on the tradition of guarding the Master Emerald on his own. I wish their was another way, I really do, but nothing can be done," **-Locke's Dairy page 3.**_

" That was the last entry," said Knuckles, closing the book and setting back on the desk.

"What about these strange symbols written on the back?" asked Shadow.

" I haven't been able to figure it out" said Knuckles " come on, we're wasting time, let's go join Sonic and the others,"

As Knuckles left the room Shadow once again looked at the lone diary lying on the table, thoughts filling his mind. This great evil the Ancient Walkers described, could it be Nazo, or was it something more dire?"

**---------------------------------------------------------------**

Minutes later Knuckles and Shadow found themselves back on the mainland in front of Sonic's house. Surprise awaited them inside when the saw the gang with worried looks painted on their face. Sonic's mood cheered when he saw Knuckles and Shadow head into the room.

"About time you guys came back" said Sonic " we had a little bit of trouble while you were gone,"

"Right" said Shadow taking a seat on the couch, and pointing to the two Chaos Emeralds in Vector's hands " anything to do with those?"

"Yeah" said Tails " but how did you know?"

"'Cause Knuckles and I just through battling a Chaos Serpent that's why," said Shadow.

"Hey" said Knuckles, noticing that something was missing " where's Rouge and Amy?"

"They were captured by one of Nazo's Chaos Soliders" said Sonic " we've don't where they could have gone,"

" Well I have an idea," said Shadow.

"What is it?" asked Charmy.

Knuckles didn't need to guess he already knew.

"The ancient city we found on the Floating Island, he's waiting for us there,"

**-----------------------------------------------------------**

Meanwhile, back in the ancient city, Rouge and Amy found themselves confined in a stone cell at Nazo's dark palace. The pampered bat imediatelly scoffed at the decore.

" This is no place to toss a lady" said Rouge " why don't you let Pink keep the cell here and transfer me to the best room in the house,"

"Hey!" said Amy.

"For you, my dear Rouge" said Nazo, coming down to greet his guests " this is the best room in the house,"

"Why'd you kidnap us you Dirtball?!" Amy demanded " what are you planning to do?"

"My desire is to kill the world's last Guardian" said Nazo " with him gone no one else will be able stand before my power. You two are only here to consult as insurance in case my first plan fails,"

"And if your first plan does fail?" asked Rouge as the silver hedgehog began to float away.

"Trust me Bat" said Nazo " you don't want to know,"


	8. Chapter 8: Attack On Nazo's Fortress

**Ch.8: Attack On Nazo's Fortres**s

"It's now or never," thought Sonic as he and the others took off towards Angel Island.

However, although the blue hedgehog enjoyed seeking out another death-defying adventure Shadow could see worry clouding Sonic's eyes. Just before everyone took off the black hedgehog had dragged Sonic and Tails aside to decipher the wierd writing written on the back of Locke's Diary that he took when Knuckles wasn't looking.

It took Tails about ten minutes before he had the text decoded. But what it had to say was a shock to them all.

_" Chaos Child, born of the brightest light, may your Flame grow strong and true. But be aware, for many obstacles lay before you. Some will seek to destroy you, some will try to harness your might. Some will seek to control you or extinquish the light. May your heart and soul grow strong, and your will continue to fight. Heed Our Words, Chaos Child of Light,"_

The disturbing prophecy was debated on whether or not it should be presented to Knuckles. While they were deciding neither of them had noticed Knuckles as he suddenly stepped into the room. When they did there was little that they could do to shield the prophecy from him so Knuckles read it himself.

After the echidna had finished reading the prophecy his face set into a grim frown. As the planes closed in on Angel Island Sonic looked over to Knuckles and saw that the echidna's face was frozen in concentration and confusion.

"Was it wise to show him?" thought Sonic " from the looks of that text it looks like Nazo isn't the only problem Knuckles will have to face. What other dangers are there? When will this whole wish be over?"

Unfortunately for Sonic, his last two questions were questions that no one had the answer to.

**-------------------------------------------------------------------**

The memories of last night's nightmare kept replaying through Knuckles mind. For some reason he found himself back on that volcanic planet battling Yellow Zelkova when the Metarex started sliding right towards a pool of lava.

It didn't matter to Knuckles whether Zelkova was a friend or foe, he was not about to let someone die. But when he tried to save him Zelkova realized that for him it was to late, and refused Knuckles hand.

Knuckles was devestated when Zelkova died, and had they not been enmies they would have been friends. Until Nazo came Knuckles had forgotten these memories but now they were flooding back to him like a tidal wave.

But why was his memory of Yellow Zelkova begining to stir up? Did Nazo also possess a good heart? Or did it mean someone else Knuckles held close to him was going to die?

**-------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Moments later everyone arrived on Angel Island. The first stop was the Master Emerald's alter where Knuckles retrieved the glowing green gem and the Chaos Emeralds he had put there earlier. They were going to need all the help they could to defeat Nazo.

The plan was a simple one. Knuckles and Shadow would infiltrate the palace with the Master Emerald in tow. Shadow would free Amy and Rouge, while Knuckles headed off to face Nazo and hopefully defeat him.

Nazo saw his unexpected guests entering the ancient city and quickly called on his last three Chaos Soliders to put a stop to the intruders. The Chaos Soliders complied and appeared in front of Sonic's gang.

Fusing together the three Chaos Soliders transformed into a mighty stone Chaos Dragon, with the blue, red, and yellow Chaos Emeralds glowing from their chest.

"Alright" said Sonic " it's now or never. Knuckles, Shadow, go inside! The rest of us will catch up after we deal with this thing,"

Nodding thier heads Knuckles and Shadow quickly sped their way to Nazo's palace as Sonic and the others sought to remove the Chaos Emeralds from the stone dragon's chest.

Vector, Sonic, and Tails charged at the dragon first aiming to break it's stone skin, but it proved nearly impossible given that the stone dragon was powered by three Chaos Emeralds

Running a distraction Sonic charged at the dragon's head while Vector and the rest of the Chaotix team aimed at the dragon's sides, giving Tails a chance to swipe to of the Chaos Emeralds before the dragon took flight.

"Look out!" said Sonic, driving everyone out harm's way as the Chaos Dragon blew a stream of scorching hot red flame at them setting the city ablaze.

"There's no way were going to get that last Chaos Emerald while he's in the air!" said Vector.

"I can do it!" said Tails.

"Maybe with the X Tornado you could" said Espio " but that plane's outside and the tunnel's to small so even if you went to get it, it can't fit in here,"

" I'll just have to be careful to dodge the flames," said Tails.

"Good luck buddy," said Sonic. With that encouragement the twin-tailed fox took off into the sky.

It was quite a challenge dodging the dragon's flames and snapping jaws, but with it's weakened power it made it a little bit easier to cope with. One minute later Tails was holding the red Chaos Emerald up in victory and the Chaos Dragon fell apart.

"Way to go Tails!" cheered Cream and Cheese.

"Come on" said Sonic " now that we got all the Emeralds let's meet Knuckles and Shadow inside,"

And as the group rushed in they were hoping that they weren't going to be to late.

**----------------------------------------------------------------------**

Meanwhile, inside Nazo's fortress, Knuckles and Shadow split up to carry on their seperate jobs, Knuckles taking the Master Emerald along with him. Shadow imediately headed towards the prison chambers where Amy and Rouge were likely being kept.

Both females appeared both surprised and excited when Shadow showed up.

"How'd you get here?" asked Rouge, as Shadow was searching for a way to break them out of thier cell.

" Is that the thinks I get for trying to save your lives?" said Shadow, finally finding the button he looking for making the cell door open.

"Where's Sonic and the others?" asked Amy.

"With any luck they should be heading this way" said Shadow " right now we have to hurry to Nazo's throne room. Knuckles is probably already there,"

"Then what are we waiting for?" said Rouge, and with that the three raced off to help Knuckles.

**-------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Meanwhile, Knuckles had sucessfully made it into Nazo's throne room. The silver hedgehog's gleering green eyes locked on the echidna as soon as he walked in with the Master Emerald in tow.

"Ironic" said Nazo " I sent my Chaos Soliders out there to destroy you, instead you've come straight to me. Do you really think you have what it takes to beat me,"

" I do" said Knuckles " my kind was foolish to create you. You caused the echidnas nothing but pain and destruction!"

" Oh" said Nazo " I'm not the only one. You'll find out in time that your kind has had many enemies. Unfortunately you won't live to see them,"

"Then let's end it," said Knuckles.

"I intend too," said Nazo, charging at Knuckles.

This fight was being taken to the ultimate level of Chaos v.s. Chaos. Years of experince of fighting with Sonic had improved Knuckles speed, but it was still a little slower than Nazo's, making it still nessacary for him to keep guard on all angles.

Nazo had to watch out himself because some of Knuckles punches came dangerously close to hitting their mark.

"He's tougher than I thought" thought Nazo " but it's time to end this skirmish once and for all,"

"Chaos Blast!"

A gaint explosion suddenly erupted causing damage in a fifthteen foot area. Knuckles was near the blast and got socked into a stone wall. Admiring his handiwork for a moment Nazo settled down on the ground and started charging a Chaos Spear pointed right at the fallen echidna.

"Say Goodbye to the Last Guardian," said Nazo, and with that he fired.


	9. Chapter 9: The Fall of Super Sonic

**Ch.9: The Fall of Super Sonic**

Knuckles was badly beaten, but when he saw Nazo charging up for a Chaos Spear attack he knew he had to jump out of the way, but his body didn't listen. The Chaos Spear fired and just as Knuckles thought this may be the end a herorix blue blur suddenly came to his rescue.

" Hey, you alright pal?" said Sonic to Knuckles.

"About time you got here" said Knuckles getting up " where are the others?"

" Right here," said Shadow coming in with the rest of the crew.

" Hey Shadow" said Sonic " I think it's time we teach this Nazo creep a lesson,"

"Agreed," said Shadow.

Calling up the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds a golden glow surrounded Sonic and Shadow transforming them into their Super forms. Nazo was shocked but not impressed.

" So" said Nazo " the Guardian is not the only one who can harness the power of Chaos. Well, let's just see how much power you two have,"

With that Nazo shot into the sky with Super Sonic and Super Shadow following him not far behind.

" You can do it Sonic!" shouted Amy " get that Nazo creep!"

" Are you okay Knuckles?" asked Tails, looking with concern at the echidna.

" I'll be fine," said Knuckles, then turned his thoughts to the sky " be careful Sonic, Shadow...this may be the toughest fight of our lives,"

**------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Meanwhile, in the red nighttime sky above Angel Island Super Sonic and Super Shadow stood bold as they faced off againist Nazo. Sonic made the first move launching himself at Nazo with a super spin.

The silver hedgehog saw it coming however and managed to dodge it. A whistling sound suddenly caught his attention, moving out of the way Nazo barely managed to avoid a Chaos Spear shot from Shadow.

"Hmmm" said Nazo " you to are more organized than I thought. But you still are no match for a living embodiment of Chaos,"

"We'll see about that," said Sonic.

"Chaos Spear!" Sonic and shadow shouted together launching a big golden Chaos Spear at Nazo. But the silver hedgehog survived it without a stratch.

" Foolish try" said Nazo " you do not fully understand the power you possess. But as for me, I have had years of practice,"

With that Nazo a blue suddenly formed around Nazo and then burst out in all directions knocking Super Sonic and Super Shadow away from each other. Although Sonic managed to shake off the effects from the Chaos Blast, he didn't notice the speeding torpedo heading striaght for him until to late.

"Sonic, look out!" yelled Shadow, racing towards the hedgehog.

But it was to late. With amazing speed Nazo jabbed Sonic's chest with a charged hand that held the fury of a million lightning bolts. The gold light from Sonic faded as he yelled out an inhuman cry of pain.

Down below, just exiting Nazo's palace, all eyes turned upward as soon as they heard Sonic's cry. All eyes widened in horror as Sonic's fur faded back to blue and he fell from the sky.

"Sonic!" yelled Knuckles.

"Sonic!" yelled Amy.

Taking flight Tails sped to catch the falling hedgehog in his arms and brought his body over to his worried friends. The damage that Nazo had done was unmistakeable. A deep wound was cut in Sonic's chest dripping blood everywhere, and the blue hedgehog's eyes appeared to be groggy and unfocused.

There was no mistaken the folorn looks on everyones faces as they looked at the body of their fallen comrade. Amy and others burst into tears as Knuckles slowly approached the body belonging to his arch rival.

Getting down on his knees Knuckles touched Sonic's wound tainting his white gloves with Sonic's blood. The two of them had been friends and enemies, rivals and allies. But the bond between Knuckles and Sonic had gone much deeper than that. Looking at Tails and Sonic Knuckles realized that they have become more than just teammates, they have become brothers to one another. And they were willing to take the chance of life and death to protect each other from harm.

For so many years Knuckles always thought that he stood alone, that when he lost his kind all hopes of the empty feeling going away were gone. But that's not true anymore, he does have a family to fight for, and he will do whatever it takes to defend them.

" Nazo" hissed Knuckles under his breath " you're going to pay for this!"

To everyone's sudden surprise the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald began to glow very brightly, so bright it would put the sun to shame. A strange green glow surrounded Knuckles changing his natural red fur into gleaming emerald green.

Chaos energy pulsed through the green coat advertising a tremoundous increase in Knuckles power. Opening his eyes you see that they turned a gleering amber yellow. Nazo and Shadow could both feel the increase in Knuckles Chaos Energy, and what they felt was off the charts.

Nazo could feel knuckles eyes land on him and for the first time in life the silver hedgehog quivered in fear. All these years of fighting the echidnas and he had once feared death. But this time was different, this is the one time he truly felt that he was going to die.


	10. Chapter 10: Knuckles Unleashed

**Ch.10: Knuckles Unleashed**

Everyone was speechless in amazement as they watched Chaos Knuckles shoot into the sky and plow into Nazo. The silver hedgehog didn't have time to evade as Knuckles slammed his chest with a hard jab to the ribs.

"He's strong" thought Nazo " let's see how strong,"

With that thought in mind Nazo charged at Chaos Knuckles with a super spin. But Chaos Knuckles dissappeared before he could even be hit by Nazo's attack. As the silver hedghog wandered where his opponent dissappeared to Knuckles reappeared behind him and struck Nazo with a Chaos Spear.

Nazo cried out in pain from Knuckles fierce attack and launched a shining blue Chaos Blade at the echidna. Chaos Knuckles dodged it with ease and released his own Chaos Blade once again making Nazo cry out in pain.

From the sidelines all Super Shadow could do was watch in open mouth amazement. Never before had he seen Knuckles generate so much power that rivaled both his and Sonic's, yet on a much higher level.

Of course it made since when Shadow thought about it. After all Knuckles was the last living guardian of the Master Emerald, and the inscription on the back of Locke's reffered to him as 'Chaos Child'.

If you asked Shadow a few days ago he would have said those things wouldn't have made any sense. but now they did, and this fight was living proof of it.

With amazement Super Shadow watched as Chaos Knuckles formed a spear out of thin air and jabbed it into Nazo's chest. The silver hedgehog once again cried in pain as Shadow and everyone watching from the ground gasped.

The spear had struck a fatal blow to Nazo's heart, but despite the reality Nazo didn't fall. Instead, he plucked the spear out of his chest and flung it to the ground.

"Fool" said Nazo to Chaos Knuckles " I have no flesh and blood form. I cannot be killed. My Chaos powers make me immortal!"

"Even immortality doesn't last forever" said Chaos Knuckles, grabbing Nazo's arm " and I'm about to show you why,"

Before the others could even blink both Nazo and Chaos Knuckles dissappeared.

**-----------------------------------------------------------**

When Chaos Knuckles appeared over Angel Island again, the silver hedgehog broke free of Knuckles grip and got ready to continue the fight when he noticed something about the island looked different.

No wonder, both them were floating over an ancient city, and it was crawling with echidnas.

" No" said Nazo to Knuckles " what have you done? Where are we?"

"When" said Knuckles " this is your past as well as mine,"

" You mean when I was...?" said Nazo.

Suddenly realizing what Knuckles was going to do Nazo chased the glowing green echdina all the way to the Brotherhood base. The Brotherhood was more than surprised when the saw Knuckles and Nazo burst in, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.

An echidna named Spectre, who couldn't be more apley named since he dressed like one, glismped the mark on Knuckles chest as he sped by shooting Chaos Spears at Nazo.

Nazo dodged and launched a super spin at Knuckles, Using his Chaos powers hoever Knuckles slowed down time and hit Nazo hard on the head making the silver hedgehog land unconious.

Chaos Knuckles noticed Spectre looking at him and materlized a note out of thin air and gave it to the stunned echidna.

" If you're wise you'll heed my instructions," said Chaos Knuckles, and with that he dissappeared.

**------------------------------------------------------------------**

As soon as Chaos Knuckles dissappeared Spectre approached the other members of the Brotherhood with the note in hand.

"What was that?" said Hawk, great grandfather of Knuckles.

" Apparently a mistake that a Guardian of the Future was trying to prevent," said Spectre.

"What do you mean?" asked Remington, EST cop.

Spectre handed over the note Knuckles had given him for Remington and the rest of the Brotherhood to read. When they were all finished reading Spectre spoke up.

" I know we fear the future" he said " but we cannot deny the strentghs of our own people. If the mainlanders war does come to us we shall find a way to fight it, without the use of the Chaos Force,"

**---------------------------------------------------------------------**

Back in present day, Shadow got out of his Super form and joined the others around Sonic's body, whose wound was still pouring blood. When Knuckles reappeared in front of them, out of his Chaos Form, he was astounded to see that Sonic was still bleeding. Had the Guardians of the past not heeded his warning?

" Knuckles" said Tails running to hug the echidna " what happened to Nazo?"

" He's gone" said Knuckles hopefully " is Sonic all right?"

"His skin's very cold and his pulse is slowing down" said Rouge, checking on the blue hedgehog's status " I hate to say it, but Sonic the hedgehog is dying,"


	11. Chapter 11: Sonic's Successor

**Ch.11: Sonic's Sucessor**

" I can't believe it" thought Knuckles, standing still while everyone else crowded around Sonic " I got rid of Nazo, he should have never exsisted! So why is Sonic still injured? Why?"

A strange glowing light turned everyone's attention to the sky. Out the light formed three floating tiki masks. Knuckles knew instinctively who they were. These were the Ancient Walkers Locke had told him about before he dissappeared.

" Do not fear Chaos Child" said the Ancient Walkers to Knuckles as the echidna approached " you have not failed. Nazo's tale has not been told, but a new tale has yet to unfold,"

"But if I didn't fail to get rid of Nazo" said Knuckles " then why is Sonic still hurt?"

" Pararell realities do not favor time" said the Ancient Walkers " what happens happens, simple and sublime. We know that you all wish this pain will not last, but Sonic was injured in the present, not the past. Be patient and do not cry, it is not the hedgehog's time to die,"

So Sonic would eventually heal and to that everyone gave a big sigh of relief. As the Ancient Walkers dissappeared after relaying their message everyone left the ancient city and returned to the open air of Angel Island.

" Man" said Vector, stretching his arms " breathe that fresh air,"

" I'll take Sonic to see Doctor Quack" said Tails " it's good to know that he will recover. It's to bad we don't know when,"

"The Ancient Walkers are never specific on time," said Knuckles.

" So you know those floating tiki masks?" asked Rouge.

" Every Guardian knows," said Knuckles.

About five minutes later the Chaotix were on their way back to the cabin, and everyone else was loading the injured Sonic into the X Tornado for the trip home. Knuckles however walked up the steps to the Master Emerald's alter and put the Master Emerald and the Chaos Emeralds back in their proper places.

"Why are you sulking?" came the unexpected voice of Shadow from behind him.

" I'm worried about Sonic that's all," said Knuckles, turning to face the black hedgehog.

" No, that's not all" said Shadow " there's something else, now spill it,"

"Heh" sighed Knuckles " they should have returned. If Nazo was the one who had killed my kind they all should be here, but they're not,"

" You changed history Knuckles" said Shadow " which is something I didn't even think you could do, but if you fixed one problem then likely another one came to replace it,"

" I guess I haven't fufilled the prophecy yet" said Knuckles sighing " but what in the world could be worse than Nazo?"

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

A few weeks later Doctor Quack was happy to report that Sonic had fully recovered from his wound and was free to leave the hospital. Tails and the others were imediately excited and decided to have a party to celebrate Sonic's recovery.

Decorations were hung up fast at the local park, with plenty of food and drinks on the table to feed an army. Knuckles, Shadow, Rouge, and the Chaotix came in and enjoyed the fun just minutes after the party started.

And the guest of honor, Sonic the Hedgehog himself, was having a blast of his own hanging out with every known friend he ever made. But even with all the celebration something serious was also implanted in Sonic's mind.

When Sonic first woke up he imediately demanded to know what happened to Nazo, having being knocked out for the rest of the battle. When he heard of his near death experince and Knuckles victory a strange new thought entered the hedgehog's mind.

For many years Sonic had never once feared death. It was one thing he never thought off when facing someone as pathetic as Eggman or someone more powerful like Nazo. Yet the possiblity was still there, what would happen if he ever really did die? Who would take his place when he was gone?

Of course Tails would probably try his best to take over, but he was just a kid, he still had a lot to learn whenever a situation produced to much danger.

These thoughts have plagued Sonic for the past few weeks of his recovery, and now was the perfect time he thought to this plague to a stop. while everyone set down at the table for lunch Sonic raised his glass and said...

" I have an announcement to make,"

Everyone imediatelly quieted down and waited axniously to hear what Sonic had to say.

"First" said Sonic " I want to thank ya'll for standing by me while I recovered from Nazo's attack, but the real hero to be celebrated here today is Knuckles for putting an end to Nazo's riegn of terror once and for all,"

" No Sonic" said Knuckles denyingly " it was my wish that caused this whole mess in the first place. I don't deserve the praise,"

" Yes you do" said Sonic " people need a hero to rely on. And if anything ever happens to me I want you to stand up and be that hero,"

Everyone was stunned still when Sonic made his announcement, especailly Knuckles. Sonic had basically just announced that if he ever dies Knuckles would be their new leader.

Even after the party Knuckles was still stunned to be given such an honor. As he stood be before the Master Emerald's alter he vowed.

" I won't let you down Sonic" said Knuckles "I won't let you down,"

**----------------------------------------------------------**

Meanwhile, floating in the limbo of time and space, the Ancient Walkers had just witnessed Sonic's surprise announcement as well, although they weren't to surprised. On that night a new prophecy was born.

_**"** The wounded is healed, the battle is done, but the war has just begun._

_A wish has yet to be fufilled, it will not stop, it will not yeild._

_Darkness approaches the evening dawn, fate will not be prolonged._

_Be prepared Chaos Child of Light, and brace yourself for the coming fight**,"**_

_**The End ... For Now** _


End file.
